As a child I would fly to Colorado to visit her and I loved it. She would always make me fresh squeezed orange juice, homemade rum raisin ice cream, and register me for swimming lessons at the Valley Hi swimming pool. When I would return home, I would feel like the most loved child in the world.

On December 31, 2006, Grandma was diagnosed with bladder cancer after being admitted into the hospital. To this point she was completely fine - living alone at home and still walking several miles a day. On January 10, 2007 she was released from the hospital into my mother's care and hospice was coming to my mother's house to care for her daily. On January 11, she layed down to take a nap and didn't wake up. Living on the east coast, my sister felt I should come home and I arrived on January 12 - three days later she died.

I believe that God blessed us with the opportunity to say good-bye to her. I had the chance to not only tell her it was okay for her to move on, but WHY it was okay. She made provisions for us and to this day those provisions continue to take care of her family, including her great grandchildren.

She would have approved the memorial service for her. We had a bouquet of all pink roses, a Denver Broncos floral arrangement and we played "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" by Judy Garland. A lot of people attended, many of them I had not seen since my last summer visiting as a child.

I miss my grandmother and I will always remember her kindness, her touch, and her smell.